L.A. Wolves Forward Sam Higgins Nets Two First Half Goals to Lead Wolves to Victory
Soccer News: The L.A. Wolves FC crossed a big bridge as the club moved into the Third round of Qualifying of the prestigious U.S. Open Cup by beating Cal FC 2-1 at Toyota Sport Complex in Torrance, CA. The L.A. Wolves will find out who their next opponent will be in the coming months as the U.S Open Cup Qualifying Third Round of play is slated for April 2016.
L.A. Wolves forward Sam Higgins could not have found a better night to come out of a goal scoring drought by netting two goals in the first half to single-handedly give the Wolves a 2-0 halftime lead. The Wolves moved the ball around well in the first half offensively taking advantage of its home field and kept a tight defensive mode on the dangerous midfield of Cal FC.
In the 41’ minute of play, Wolves starting Defender Xavier Ikaika rolled his ankle and needed to be subbed in at halftime which brought in Tarzan Fernandez at right back. This would prove to be a tide change as Cal FC put more pressure into the second half and ultimately netted a goal in the 71st minute of play forcing the Wolves to drop back into defensive mode to hold on to its one goal lead. With Cal FC missing a few chances to tie the game, the whistle finally blew and the Wolves capped a victory into the books holding on for a 2-1 win and a trip to the next qualifying round of the U.S Open Cup.
“We were fortunate to score two goals in the first half as we really needed some elbow room with some of the injuries that we were dealt with in the first half,” said L.A. Wolves President Yan Skwara. “The entire team stepped up and held their composure to preserve the two goal lead that Sam Higgins gave us. Our bench also did well to come into the picture and provide fight and muscle to keep Cal FC on its toes til the end. Overall the boys did well, considering the fact we were a bit shorthanded due to Xavier’s injury at the end of the first half, as he is a key back for us, who makes a big difference. Also our central Midfielder Duncan Capriotti was playing with a very bad quad issue and that was also concerning as he was not one hundred percent for the match.
“I think it’s fair to say we won the first half and Cal FC had the better of us in the second half, but we managed to keep them off the board enough to walk off the pitch with the win and that’s what you need in the U.S Open Cup as there is no tomorrow.”
The L.A. Wolves next match is December 5, 2015 at Toyota Sports Complex @ 7:30 PM in a Quarterfinal UPSL Playoff match versus FC Hasental.
